Fahrbach, Ludwig (2016) Scientific Revolutions and the Explosion of Scientific Evidence. [Preprint]

Preview

Text Paper 01 ALLES ZUSAMMEN 2016 SeptemberX Pittsburgh Archive.pdf Download (361kB) | Preview

Abstract

Scientific realism, the position that successful theories are likely to be approximately
true, is threatened by the pessimistic induction according to which the history of science is full of suc-
cessful, but false theories. I aim to defend scientific realism against the pessimistic induction. My main
thesis is that our current best theories each enjoy a very high degree of predictive success, far higher
than was enjoyed by any of the refuted theories. I support this thesis by showing that both the amount,
and quality, of scientific evidence has increased enormously in the recent past, resulting in a big boost
of success for the best theories.

---

Export/Citation:

EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL

Social Networking:

Share |

---

Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Fahrbach, Ludwig ludwig.fahrbach@gmail.com
Keywords:	scientific realism, pessimistic induction, no-miracle argument, explosion of evidence
Subjects:	General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism
Depositing User:	Dr. Ludwig Fahrbach
Date Deposited:	12 Sep 2016 14:33
Last Modified:	12 Sep 2016 14:33
Item ID:	12424
Subjects:	General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism
Date:	15 May 2016
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/12424

Available Versions of this Item

• Scientific Revolutions and the Explosion of Scientific Evidence. (deposited 12 Sep 2016 14:33) [Currently Displayed]

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item